Seinfeld managed to pull off multiple seasons of brilliance without ever really becoming stale or outdated.
Its last two seasons were a bit choppy after Larry David bowed out, but the show ended more or less at the top of the pack, a rarity for sitcoms.
What's even more incredible is how much money Jerry Seinfeld passed up by ending it when he did:
[Mild Language Warning]
Howard Stern: Warren Littlefield wrote that if you would have given him another season of Seinfeld, he would have paid you $110 million for the year. $110 million.
Jerry Seinfeld: I could've gotten more than that.
Howard Stern: You could've gotten more than that. Is that the ultimate integrity? You were done.
Seinfeld: You know, it wasn't, integrity's a nice word, and a flattering word, I appreciate that. But, to be honest ... the love affair between the people that were making the show and the audience was so intense, it was so white-hot, I had to respect that. And I could not go to that point where it starts to age and wither...
"I wanted it to end with a fireworks burst of, 'It never was bad'," Seinfeld said.
Congratulations, Jerry: It did.
